Jacqueline Harvey is a bestselling children's book author from Sydney Australia.

A Bookish Adventure

I started this blog to document an extended trip to the US and UK in 2012, introducing children to my Alice-Miranda series. It's hard to believe that it's just on four years since we launched the first Alice-Miranda title - and now there are nine books out in Australia with another five still to come. When I first came up with the idea of this precocious seven and a quarter year old, I had no clue that she would take me on such an amazing journey, not only in Australia but also across the world. I visited 37 schools while we were away in 2012 and gave over 80 talks - it was fantastic. In 2013 I've been on lots of new adventures in the UK - visiting schools from London to Southampton, Lancashire, Scotland, Newcastle and back to London again. After that I headed off to meet readers in Singapore. In Australia I've been to Melbourne, Perth, Albany, Alice Springs and Brisbane. There's a new series too - about a gorgeous little girl called Clementine Rose. She and Alice-Miranda don't know each other yet, but they will soon.

Friday, May 2, 2014

A productive week filled with excitement!

Life as an author is never dull that's for sure. I spent Monday this week with the English faculty at Pennant Hills High School, working through strategies for teaching writing on their Professional Development Day. They are a great team and I came away feeling really excited about how motivated and enthusiastic they were -no mean feat given it was their first day back after a term break.

My other big goal for the week was to finish the manuscript for Clementine Rose and the Famous Friend. It's the seventh book in the series, so seems a way off in the future as we've just last month released Clementine Rose and the Seaside Escape which is number five. Clementine Rose and the Treasure Boxis set for released in July then Famous Friend will be out in October. Many hours later and after the usual helping of self doubt, I pressed send yesterday and am now hoping that it passes muster.

There's no break between books as I've already started plotting the eighth story in the series and plan to have it finished by the end of the month.

In amongst all the writing and usual emails and other weekly tasks I was thrilled to learn on Tuesday that Alice-Miranda in Paris has been shortlisted for the Australian Book Industry Awards in the Older Readers Category 8-14. It's such a huge honour to be there alongside Anh Do, John Flanagan, Nikki Gemmel and James Phelan.

This morning the REAL awards shortlist was announced and Alice-Miranda In Paris is there too but on the Younger Readers list. I guess that's a good thing, that the stories are read by young and a little bit older!

The REAL (Reading and Enjoying Australian Literature) awards are the shortlist used for YABBA, KOALA, KROC and COOL, the children's choice awards in Victoria, NSW, NT and ACT. You can see all the books that the children have selected below.

It's incredibly rewarding and humbling to be recognised for doing something that I love - especially given that the books are not just my doing. So many talented people work with me to create them and quite honestly they make me look much better at this than I really am!

To all of the fabulously talented authors and illustrators who have been shortlisted and the teams behind them, congratulations!

The icing on the cake was finding out this morning that a young writer I've been mentoring for the past year has just had a story accepted for publication. I have had great faith in Corinne since we started working together - she's a star on the rise and to play a small part in helping her get there is incredibly rewarding. We are definitely planning some celebrations!

About Me

Jacqueline Harvey has combined a successful career in education with her love of a good story. She is the author of 14 novels for younger readers and a picture book, THE SOUND OF THE SEA, which was awarded Honour Book in the 2006 Children’s Book Council Awards.
Her bestselling Alice-Miranda series centres on the life of Alice-Miranda Highton-Smith-Kennington-Jones, a perpetually positive and determined seven year old who takes herself off to boarding school because it appeals to her sense of adventure.
The first book in the series, Alice-Miranda At School was released in Australia in February 2010 with Alice-Miranda On Holiday, Alice-Miranda Takes the Lead, Alice-Miranda At Sea, Alice-Miranda In New York, Alice-Miranda Shows the Way and Alice-Miranda In Paris following at six month intervals. Jacqueline is currently contracted to write 12 Alice-Miranda books. She has a new series for younger readers (5-9 year olds) which launched in Australia in September 2012. Jacqueline is contracted to write eight Clementine-Rose books with Random House Australia.
For more information go to www.jacquelineharvey.com.au